Greater New Orleans

Aetna challenges state's new Medicaid health care pacts

Aetna Better Health has asked a state district court to throw out contracts awarded to three private companies involved in the state's new health care delivery system for the poor. The Advocate reports the three contested companies are among five chosen to take over $2.2 billion of the state's Medicaid business. The three-year pacts are worth in excess of $6 billion.

File photoLouisiana Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein

In court filings Thursday, Aetna wants to nullify contract awards that went to Amerigroup Louisiana, Louisiana Healthcare Connections Inc. and United Healthcare of Louisiana. It wants the court to require the state Department of Health and Hospitals to solicit new proposals.

Aetna was an unsuccessful proposer and has objected to the contract awards in both administrative and court filings as it pressed for information related to the decisions.

DHH communications director Lisa Faust said agency lawyers will file a response. She said previously another losing proposer -- Coventry -- had filed a petition with the court.

"We are extremely confident in the process used to select the five Health Plans and believe the arguments from those protesting lack merit," Faust said.

Two-thirds of the state's 1.2 billion Medicaid recipients will be enrolled in one of five private health plans. The plans will be responsible for coordinating patient care through networks of physicians, hospitals and other providers.

Aetna claims errors in the DHH scoring of proposals by three companies "were so severe that they raise serious concerns about the integrity of the entire DHH evaluation process and its award to the three chosen ... proposers."

In the filing, Aetna also claims the state's withholding of documents related to the award and lack of full disclosure after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled they were public records impeded its ability to get information needed to show the contract awards were improper.

"Aetna's right to protest the awards was prejudiced by the lack of disclosure of obviously relevant information," according to the petition.

Pat Powers, head of Aetna Better Health of Louisiana, said an examination of the materials that have been released since the court ruling has raised more questions instead of providing answers. He said the court appeal is the "next step in providing a transparent review of how the largest contracts in state history were awarded."

Faust disputed Aetna claims that DHH was not forthcoming with public documents.